


"Just Friends" part I

by shinlluminous



Series: Seventeen One-Shots Collection [7]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Best Friends, Gay, High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-20
Updated: 2016-10-20
Packaged: 2018-08-23 14:05:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8330644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinlluminous/pseuds/shinlluminous
Summary: Jeon Wonwoo seems to be drifting away, and Junhui's determined to catch him.





	

 

There was a certain emptiness that was impossible to avoid when Wen Junhui started his high school year.

‘I’m nervous,’ Wonwoo clutched onto his stomach as he sat on the steps just outside the door of Junhui’s terraced house. Junhui glanced at him from inside, struggling to pull his socks up his feet properly without his nails catching the strings of the fabric.

‘Why?’ he asked, finally able to adjust them properly and put on his sneakers. Wonwoo shook his head. Junhui checked himself out briefly with the mirror just above the shoe closet, making sure his brown hair looked neat.

‘New people. I mean it’s high school,’ Wonwoo replied, shrugging as he stood up upon hearing Junhui’s footsteps coming from behind him. ‘Probably the toughest phase of your life,’ he said. ‘Ever,’ he emphasized. _Isn’t adulthood tougher?_ Jun thought to himself, but he didn’t want to rain on Wonwoo’s parade of anxiety.

‘You’ll be fine. I’ll be there,’ Junhui patted him on the back assuringly. ‘Besides, you’re smart. What’s there to be scared about?’

Wonwoo clutched onto his book, the latest novel he had currently started reading. Junhui distracted him as they walked. He started asking Wonwoo about what clubs he wanted to join, what elective he wanted to take. The latter began leading himself into descripted imagination. ‘I heard they have a really big library. It’s like two floors and they have this private rooms with bean bags and stuff,’ he dragged on. ‘I wanna check it out during lunch. Do you think they open at night?’

‘They might,’ Junhui smiled. Wonwoo suddenly stopped, and Junhui followed, staring at his childhood friend.

‘Wow,’ Wonwoo looked up. He inhaled heavily. ‘This is it,’ he said.

‘Yeah, and it’ll be great. Trust me,’ Junhui kept on walking. ‘Come on, the hall’s going to be full if we don’t get in quick,’ he urged Wonwoo, and the other rushed after him.

The entrance ceremony speech was brief, and Wonwoo was glad the registration procedures were efficient and simple, or else it would have added to his anxiety. He felt a little upset he didn’t get into the same homeroom as Junhui did, but Junhui assured him that they’d still see each other often and that he had nothing to worry about. Reluctantly, Wonwoo made his slow way to finding his classroom. ‘1-A,’ he muttered the paper under his breath. It had his student profile on it, and a passport photo of himself he didn’t particularly like.

‘Are you lost as well?’ a voice made Wonwoo look up. He saw another boy standing in the hallway, smiling at him. He had black hair and slightly tanned skin, and definitely a much friendlier demeanour than Wonwoo did.

‘Yeah,’ Wonwoo scoffed. He was just about to text Junhui to help him.

‘What class are you?’ the boy asked.

‘1-A,’ he answered. He saw the boy’s face light up.

‘Really? So am I!’ he exclaimed. Wonwoo’s eyes widened a little. _One friend made, for now,_ he thought to himself. _That’s a relief._ ‘Can I look for our class with you?’ he asked. Wonwoo found it a rather strange request to ask, but he nodded gladly, and the boy happily went to Wonwoo’s side. ‘Sorry, I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Kim Mingyu,’ he held out a hand.

‘Wonwoo,’ Wonwoo shook his firm hand. ‘Jeon Wonwoo,’

_At least you won’t get lost alone._

 

*

It began with the small things.

_‘I’m going to be at the library with Mingyu because we need to work on our pair project for Biology class,’_

then

_‘Jun, where are you? Come over here and we can have lunch with Mingyu!’_

then

_‘It’s okay you can go home first, I’m staying back.’_

_‘Alone? Who are you with?’_

_‘Mingyu,’_

Things escalated quicker than Junhui could remember, and truly he was happy for Wonwoo. Even when-

_‘Wonwoo, are you free? Because that new movie just came out and we could go watch it now if you want.’_

_‘Oh my God, Jun! I’m going to go see that movie with Mingyu. I forgot to tell you I’m so sorry. He actually asked me out last week. Can you believe it? I thought he was straight because he’s always close to these girls and people went around talking about his ex-girlfriend and stuff.’_

_‘Wow, Wonwoo I-‘_ Junhui was speechless. _‘-that’s great!’_

_‘I actually didn’t realize I started liking him too. But I guess you never notice it, right?’_

_‘Yeah,’_ he tried to hide his personal remorse. _‘Have fun then. Tell me what happens tomorrow,’_

_‘I will! Tbanks, Jun.’_

*

It’s been a year and a half.

‘No I don’t,’ Junhui answered grimly as he poked his bento with his chopsticks. ‘I’m really sorry, Mrs. Jeon.’ He rested his arms on his desk.

‘No it’s alright,’ he heard the woman sigh from the other side of the phone. ‘It’s not your fault. But if you do know anything, please do tell me. I’m getting worried,’

‘I will,’ he assured her before hanging up. He put down his cutlery and laid back in his seat, exhaling heavily. ‘Where the hell are you?’ he muttered under his breath, closing the lid of his bento box before he marched out of the classroom. He made a corner towards class 1-A, and immediately found who he was looking for.

Kim Mingyu wasn’t exactly hard to notice, what with his height. He looked like a giant sitting on such a small chair. He was laughing at the back of the class with Choi Seungcheol and Chwe Hansol, both familiar faces to Junhui. The trio had made a minor reputation for themselves; they were almost always together when they weren’t in class, especially out on the field since all three of them were part of the school’s track team.

‘Mingyu,’ Junhui called the tanned boy, and the three turned. Mingyu’s smile faded a little, and all because he knew Junhui was Wonwoo’s best friend, and he placed a best bet that whatever Junhui wanted with him would about the boy. ‘I need to talk,’ he said quietly and Mingyu almost immediately consented without question. Seungcheol and Hansol exchanged curious glances and watched the two leave the classroom to the far end of the corridor.

‘Is this about Jeon?’ Mingyu made an assumption.

‘He didn’t show up today?’ Junhui asked.

Mingyu shook his head. ‘It’s been a week,’

Junhui stared at him, rather irritated at the boy’s oblivious expression. ‘Are you really going to pretend you don’t know anything?’ he crossed his arms.

‘What makes you think _I_ know where he ran off to?’

‘Do you think he knew how to skip class and sneak out of school before he met you? He’s a fucking nerd, Mingyu. He didn’t all of these things until you two hooked up,’

Mingyu sighed, guilt setting in as he ran a hand through his hair. ‘I don’t know I used to take him to my place or go bus hopping around the city,’

Junhui raised a suspicious eyebrow.

‘God! I swear I know I’m not that nice but I wouldn’t teach him dangerous stuff. I know what he’s like too,’ he scratched the back of his neck. ‘He’s not replying to me either,’ he shrugged. ‘Look,’ he inhaled. ‘If you think I don’t care, you’re wrong alright?’ his voice softened as he hung his head low. ‘If you find him, can you just please tell him I’m sorry?’ he made a plea. Junhui merely scoffed, stretching his arms.

‘You can tell him that yourself,’ he turned his back coldly on Mingyu.

 

*

 

Wonwoo was deliberately oblivious to the numerous calls and texts coming in. He buried his nose inside a book; a work discussing old literary texts that dated back from the days of the Ancient Greece. He found the old legends of Hades and Persephone, the labyrinth and the Centaur far more interesting than flimsy old twisted fairy tales that have been altered over the years due to its gory originals. He wished school would teach him a bit more about the history in the context of literature.

He lied down on the carpet of a secluded room, set in the back of the city’s public library, open to all 24 hours a day. Wonwoo was thankful for a place like this. He wouldn’t like having to find sanctuary elsewhere, like the arcade or the ice rink. _Especially the arcade,_ Wonwoo thought, then shook his head when he found himself distracted from his reading.

A noisy place, dark, yet it still made him dizzy with all the flying different colours. It made him laugh. A lot.

‘Here,’ Mingyu’s eyes in the dark seemed a little deeper than usual when it looks at him. Wonwoo took the toy gun from him, positioning himself the way Mingyu did in front of the large screen in front of them. The toy gun was connected to the main computer, and was rather heavy. The screen changed, picturing a moving scene of a room in an abandoned hospital. It looked dirty and eerie to Wonwoo. Scary figures started emerging from random places within the screen and Mingyu aimed the gun at the screen, pulling the trigger repeatedly as a hearty laugh escaped his lips. Wonwoo helplessly smiled and followed suit, shooting all the foes, sometimes screaming a little sometimes laughing along with Mingyu.

With the remaining tokens, Mingyu ushered Wonwoo to a prize machine and Wonwoo had gone home clutching onto a small doll of Sid the Sloth while trying to rashly hide a blush on his face.

That was back during freshman year when Mingyu took Wonwoo out to play at the arcade with him after class. Arcade sessions turned to casual hangouts with Mingyu’s friends at fast food joints, then just the two of them. Then it was a sleepover at Mingyu’s house.

Wonwoo was reading one of his personal favourites, Bram Stoker’s Dracula for the fifth time on Mingyu’s bed. ‘What you reading?’ Mingyu returned from downstairs bringing with him two cans of Coke to his room.

‘Dracula,’ Wonwoo answered simply.

‘Holy crap, it’s hot.’ Mingyu reached for the air-conditioner remote from the top of his drawer and set the strength of the air-conditioner fan to maximum before standing idly in front of it to let the cold blow of air cool him.

Wonwoo glanced at him, at his hair blowing slightly and at his composed face before Wonwoo turned back to his book. ‘Wonwoo,’ he called, sliding onto his own bed.

‘Yeah?’ Wonwoo barely lifted his gaze.

‘Do you like anyone?’

Wonwoo flicked to the next page. ‘Kind of,’ he shrugged nervously. ‘Why?’

Mingyu took a pause. ‘Can I tell you something?’

‘Sure,’ Wonwoo put his book away, turning to Mingyu, who suddenly looked away anxiously. He waited. A grin formed on Wonwoo’s lips. ‘Come on, you can tell me, I won’t-‘

Mingyu leaned forward and kissed Wonwoo on the lips before the latter could finish his sentence. It was a chaste kiss, nothing more, but Wonwoo froze in his place, and his dark eyes grew wide. Mingyu pulled away, swallowing.

‘I’m sorry I-‘

Wonwoo blinked, his brows twitching.

‘I kind of…liked you for a while.’ Mingyu explained. ‘Kind of a long while,’ he shifter farther from Wonwoo. The other boy said nothing in return. He was still overwhelmed, and Mingyu couldn’t exactly blame him for it. ‘Erm,’ Mingyu stuttered. ‘Do you wanna…like go shower first?’ he suggested.

‘Y-Yeah,’ Wonwoo snapped out of his shock.

‘I-I’ll go get you a spare towel,’ Mingyu stood up and headed towards the bedroom door.

‘Cool,’

‘Cool,’ Mingyu muttered before closing the door.

And that moment Jeon Wonwoo realized he had just had his very first kiss.


End file.
